


Soak Up The Sun

by makesometime



Category: Terra Nova (TV)
Genre: F/M, Friends to Lovers, Outdoor Sex, Sunbathing, Sunburn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-07
Updated: 2012-03-07
Packaged: 2017-11-06 19:33:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/422421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/makesometime/pseuds/makesometime
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For her entire life Alicia Washington has harboured a secret passion, known only to a few living souls (and, 85 million years in the past, even fewer).</p>
            </blockquote>





	Soak Up The Sun

For her entire life Alicia Washington has harboured a secret passion, known only to a few living souls (and, 85 million years in the past, even fewer). 

To her, the feeling of the sun on her skin couldn't be beaten. The relaxation of soaking up the heat offered by the glowing orb in the sky, letting it warm her right down to her bones... nothing could top it. 

Childhood memories of days spent out in the fields behind her home, returning to the house sunkissed and giddy, play a large part in her enjoyment. Remembering the way her parents would fight with their children over application of sunscreen, remembering their smiles as they watched her and her brothers play in the golden light; these are all memories precious to her even now.

As she aged it became more and more difficult to indulge – her leave (what precious little she got) was often spent on more important endeavours than finding an artificial equivalent to the pastime no longer possible due to pollution – but here in their strange new world it's easier to do so; even if finding the time is less so.

During the preliminary scouting missions she finds herself quietly working out possible places to settle down on her days off; pretty early on she finds a small clearing with a deep pool the most gorgeous hue of blue-green and makes a mental note of its location for future reference. It's out of the way of the known hunting grounds of the indigenous life, something she makes a point of monitoring over the months that follow. 

It seems perfect and it is, despite the fact that she has to wait a good year for her first opportunity to visit, for the colony to be in a state where she's actually able to have some time off. The first time she applies the spray sunscreen formulation the scientists back in 2142 had to research long and hard to create for the unique climate they'd be going to, lies back on the mat she's brought with her and closes her eyes, she feels more content than she has in years.

It is perfect. But it can't last.

Her distraction, the breaking of her peaceful interlude, comes in the form of one Nathaniel Taylor.

She's a little surprised it takes him so long to follow her. He's incurably curious and the fact that she delights in refusing to tell him her destination nags at him to an extreme degree. He trusts that she's smart enough to ensure her own safety, but she knows he must have a million suspicions about where she goes – and who she goes with, more than once she's caught him perusing the downtime log to check who has the same day off.

His concern should rankle with her, irritate her; instead she finds it warms her, speaks to deeply held affection that she's been trying so hard not to focus on. So to stop herself focussing on his motivation she makes it a personal challenge; how long can she goad him, play to his pride, his desire to know every little thing about the lives of his soldiers (of her) before he cracks.

A few months down the line from her initial visit to the clearing, on her fourth or fifth time OTG during leave, she hears a rustling in the treeline behind her just as she settles down on her back. It's ridiculous immediately; for one, it's clearly human noise she's hearing, and she knows the weight behind those footsteps all too well; and two, Nathaniel is able to move without making even the slightest sound so for him to be announcing his presence in her space is either a taunt or a warning.

She takes it as the latter and doesn't immediately move, signalling her acceptance of his being there. When he remains where he is for longer than she expects she sighs. "You going to stand there all day, sir?"

She hears him laugh, approach her resting spot and then he's blocking out her sun, his shadow falling over her face and upper body. She slips her sunglasses up to rest on her head and squints up at him, unable to make out his face with the light framing him from behind. She should feel more exposed than she does in her bikini, but it's nothing he hasn't seen before (even if those other times involved her bleeding, covered in god knows what or just really desperate for a shower despite the company). She expects her choice of a simple black swimsuit will have an some kind of effect on him; thanks the sunlight once more for hiding that from her (she really doesn't need to know, much as she wants to).

"This where you've been slipping off to Wash?" He asks, skirting around her to seat himself at the edge of the pool, running a hand through the cool water.

"Caught me, sir." She smiles, settling back down. He wasn't ever one of the people who knew she loved the sunlight, it never really came up – despite the number of times (prior to the damn rebreathers) she and Ayani sat out in the late summer sun, talking, drinking and laughing together.

"Could have told me." He says and it's not as chastising as it sounds, almost disappointed, a little hurt at her holding out on him.

She smiles, tipping her head towards where he's sitting. Decides to tease, because it's really none of his business what she does in her time off. "Where's the fun in that sir?"

He smiles, shakes his head and leans back on his hands, tipping his head back to the sun. He's some kind of beautiful in that moment, the sun beating down on him and lighting up the features she knows so well. She watches him for some time, using the darkness of her lenses to hide her true line of sight, and only looks away when he turns his attention back to her.

She can feel his eyes on her, calculating, judging, the weight of his gaze a familiar sensation. She's become very good at ignoring it over the years and now is no exception; she forces herself to act as if he isn't there and allows the sun's rays to heat her skin (pretends it's this and not him watching her that flushes her skin).

"I should get back." He says after a few minutes of silence, punctuated by only the calls of far-off creatures.

"You leave Guz in charge?" Alicia asks. When he hums an affirmative reply she smiles. "Then yeah, you should."

He laughs, moving to stand beside her again, careful not to block out the sun this time. "Unless you need someone to do your back?"

He means it in jest, she has to think so because the alternative is too much to compute, the slight huskiness to his offer, the tone of suggestiveness. It all gangs up on her to make her breath hitch in a way that he can't possibly miss. She curses in her head, keeps her face impassive apart from the small smirk she allows to form (she won't miss an opportunity to set him equally off-guard). "I'm good, sir."

He wants to say something else, to throw another piece of banter at her, to regain the easy affection they grew to have back in the day before their lives became all about making a new life for humanity. But there's time for that, she knows. They'll get it back, no need to force it.

For now he just leaves, bends to pat her pulled-up knee as he passes her (though it's more of a caress) and she hears his footsteps disappear back to wherever he left his bike.

He secret isn't quite so secret any more. But she can't bring herself to care.

#

Things change too quickly. 

Lucas's true motivations are revealed, Nathaniel is forced to make the two most difficult decisions of his life followed by the easiest: to come to her, a broken man, and depend on her to put him back together once more.

She does so; though this time it's with lips and gentle questing hands instead of sterile care and needles. It's exactly what he needs, exactly what _she_ needs and it's not even questioned when it continues, when their relationship bends and rearranges itself to accommodate something that has been there and ignored for years.

If anyone notices – though really, they're only concerned about Guz – it's not mentioned. Just accepted, because in public nothing changes and that's all that really matters to the colony.

It's several months into the new facet of their relationship when she gets some time off, a blessed three days that are sorely needed. It's not even an issue when two of those days are shared by Nathaniel, they know from experience that Guz can cover for them with aplomb.

The first day she's out of the colony and at her clearing before the sun is fully up. She sets herself up with provisions, applies the sunscreen and just _relaxes_ for the first time in far too long. She knows she needs to make the most of this time, knows that Nathaniel will be with her tomorrow, knows this as certainly as she knows the sky is blue.

When she returns to the colony that night he is waiting for her on the deck of Command, smirk tugging at his lips. He tips his head towards his unit and she redirects her feet there, heads straight to his bathroom to remove the stickiness of the day. Isn't surprised when he slips in behind her, hisses at the coolness of the water, reaches beyond her to turn it up. She's about to protest when she feels the hard press of him against her lower back and such thoughts flee. 

Besides, the tiles are cold enough on her back to make up for it, even if the feeling of him buried deep inside her didn't (it did, it always did).

The next day he leaves with her, his own motorbike stealing out of the gate in the early morning light right alongside hers. (She thinks she hears a catcall from one of the guard towers and laughs, her mood light, free and easy even as Nathaniel looks back to identify the culprit.)

She doesn't know quite what he's expecting from the day, but she is certain it isn't what he gets: a day of her sunbathing. Nothing more, nothing less.

He tries his best, offers to help her with her sunscreen, pouts when she refuses him. Settles himself too close to her and chuckles when she grumbles and sidles away. She hears him applying his own sunscreen and refuses to look, refuses to take in his already golden skin further lit by the bright sunlight. 

Later, she flips over onto her stomach and pillows her head on her forearms; hears movement beside her and then the sudden sound of splashing water as Nathaniel jumps into the pool of water. It takes every tiny ounce of pride and inner strength not to flinch when droplets of water shower down on her. Which is why, she justifies, she can't summon any more to stop herself watching as he emerges from the pool much later on. 

The water beads on his chest, on his arms, the protection of the water-resistant sunscreen making it sluice off of him in tracks she wants to follow with her tongue. He smiles when he sees that her head has tipped to the side to observe him quietly, knows her eyes are drinking him in behind her dark sunglasses. But she remains still, outwardly uninterested. Clinging to the wish to warm her skin through sunlight alone, not other, (irritatingly) more pleasurable pursuits.

They eat lunch and fall into easy conversation about the colony, the next pilgrimage. Skirt around more painful topics like Ayani and Lucas, better saved for a day when there is alcohol to ease the way. And then, once she's eaten her fill, she lays herself back down. His disappointed grouching is the best thing she's heard all day, enough to muster her resolve not to give into him.

They return home that evening and though she'll never admit it to him, her desire to outlast him and his teasing has been entirely sated. Which is why, once they're through the doorway to his unit and his hands are pulling her clothing from his body with anger-tinged desperation, she doesn't even fight him.

Her final day of leave, things proceed a little differently. Her lover has been plotting, and when they've set up at the clearing and she reaches into her bag to fetch the sunscreen, she is confused as her hands encircle a very different bottle. She pulls it out to reveal not a spray, but a liquid formulation, one that must be applied by hands directly onto the skin.

Nathaniel is pretending not to watch her as she discovers this fact but she knows better, knows her reaction will set the tone of their interactions for the rest of the day. So she just raises an eyebrow, sits back down on the towel and starts to apply.

"Need a hand?" She hears from beside her, glances over to see Nathaniel looking her with unconcealed amusement.

She forces a roll of her eyes instead of eagerly agreeing to the prospect of his hands all over her body. That would make things too easy, over too quickly. She still delights too much in challenging him, despite the relaxation of her resolve the previous evening.

"Think I can manage, sir." She says and he holds up his hands in defeat, smiling all the while.

She'd be lying if she said she didn't put on a show. Her hands linger over her chest, slide smoothly down her arms and across her stomach. She lifts first one leg, then the other into the air to apply enough lotion along her long limbs, rubs her hands over her ass and watches his gaze drop.

And then, finally, she sees the true extent of his plan.

She can't reach her back.

With the spray it was easy, the protection quickly absorbed and instantly effective as she lay herself down. But this way she was stuck. Torn between her pride and a serious case of sunburn. 

Choosing delay over acceptance of her situation, she lay down on the towel, hiding her back from the sun. Hearing his amused chuckle and pushing it from her mind, she throws the bottle of lotion at him and hits him square in the chest without even looking. He just laughs more at this, since she has handed him ammunition for when she eventually needs to turn. A stupid mistake brought on by her own annoyance at him.

Still, she holds out longer than both of them are expecting. 

But, inevitably, the moment comes.

And he is on her in an instant, straddling her thighs before they're even settled fully against the towel, undoing the tie of her bikini top and painting lines down her skin with the lotion.

It's heaven, and the bastard knows it, as his hands smooth over her back. Her tense muscles adore the attention, and if the pressure she feels against her ass as she arches into his touch is anything to go by, he's enjoying tending to her. But that doesn't mean she's willing to give in. Not even as his hands slide too far down her sides, fingertips teasing the sides of her breasts underneath the loosened material of her top.

"Sir?" She questions.

"Yes, Wash?"

"Is that necessary?" She asks, around a sigh as his fingers dance down her sides to rest on her hips.

"Gotta make sure you don't burn, Wash." He says, hands coming up to rub at the back of her neck, exposed by her hair up in a loose bun.

She groans, tipping her head to one side and then the other as he works at knots in her muscles. She resists the urge to move further against him, to allow her tightly pebbled nipples to rub against the towel where her top has shifted under her body. She's not willing to give up her air of practised indifference, not willing to give him a win without significantly more effort.

His hands try to turn her beneath him but she resists and she can see his exasperation without even looking at his face. He must be puzzled by her reticence, given that she rarely manages to hold out on him when they're back at the colony, even when they're almost in public; out here in what he sees as their own private haven she should have capitulated by now.

But that was just the point. It wasn't _their_ anything. It was her haven first. And if he wants to share it with her, he has to earn it.

His hands track down to the curve of her ass, knuckles pressing hard against her as she lowers her forehead to rest on the backs of her hands. He pinches her ass and she yelps, scowling at him over her shoulder and receiving only a wide grin in return.

"You think you're so impressive."

He shrugs and she scowls, turning away from him once more. Then, quick as a flash he's off of her, hands coming around to her stomach and lifting her ass into the air, parting her legs with one of his own and situating himself up behind her, the length of him firmly against her. The quickness of their change in position leaves her breathless, the combination of roughness and the suggestive press of him against her enough to send her reeling.

"I don't think, Wash. I know."

She can sense now that he's fully unclothed, his hot skin pressing up against her in all the places uncovered by her bikini bottoms. She lets out a satisfied moan when his hands skim up her sides and cup her breasts, now completely exposed as her top hangs from a strap around her neck, her torso angled up to meet him. She spreads her legs wider to allow him more space to manoeuvre, something he immediately takes advantage of, thrusting against her twice in quick succession. His pleased moan matches her own and she smiles against the backs of her hands. She supposes he's done enough.

His hands leave her breasts and relocate back to her hips, releasing the ties there. Her bottoms fall away and she hears him laugh as his hands cover her ass and knead the skin teasingly.

"What?" She grumbles, trying not to buck into him.

"I forgot how quick you tan." He says and she knows she must have a pretty fantastic contrast between the skin of her back and the previously-covered skin of her backside. "You know, you don't have to cover up out here."

She laughs, shaking her head. "You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

He leans his weight into her fully, hands coming to rest beside her head. His lips trail over the back of her neck, up her throat to rest just below her ear. "Very much." He drawls as he catches her lobe between his teeth.

She gasps as he enters her, a slow thrust in that leaves them joined as deeply as their position allows. "Would make things tricky if a dino shows up."

He groans, pulling out and thrusting back in harshly. " _Fuck_ , Wash. Don't put the image of you naked with a gun in my head or this'll be over too soon."

Alicia laughs, clenching around him as he withdraws from her. The slick skin of her back slides against his chest as he moves. "Make me scream, sir, and I'll make sure you don't have to imagine it."

Never one to back down from a challenge, Nathaniel eases himself back up, hands gripping her hips hard as he begins to thrust in earnest. She lets out a moan as his hips slam against hers, his cock stroking deep inside her at the most _exquisite_ angle. It might well have only been a few hours since they last indulged like this but she's been so aware of him all morning that it isn't going to take much to make her break.

Sensing this, he eases up on the harsh pace, lets his hands roam her heated skin, teasing and tweaking spots he knows to be particularly sensitive. And then, just as she feels her orgasm backing off from the roar of pleasure to somewhat of a tingling reluctance one hand finds its way to her hair. He loosens the band keeping it off her skin, lets it fall around her face. Then his fingers delve into the black mass, tangling with the strands and getting a good hold before he _pulls_. She whines at the blooming of pleasure across the nerves in her scalp, hears his resulting groan as she pushes back against his next thrust.

It only takes a moment longer, a few more thrusts and a couple of tugs on her hair before she is, true to form, screaming her release into the clearing. Nathaniel laughs at the instant reaction of the local wildlife, birds fleeing their perches in trees in noisy flutters of wings. Alicia's too far gone to care as he pounds into her with renewed vigour, following her over the edge with a long moan.

He collapses down next to her and she manages to find enough energy from somewhere to roll over and curl against him. He tenderly undoes the tie of her bikini top so that it doesn't catch around her throat, and pulls the towel over her lower half. When she looks at him quizzically he just smiles, kisses her forehead. "Shame to let you get burned."

She scoffs, fingernails digging into his chest. "Thought you'd jump at the chance to make sure that doesn't happen."

His gaze on her darkens as he imagines rubbing the lotion into her backside and she grins wickedly at him. "Maybe later. Not sure I could manage it right now."

"I tire you out, old man?" She taunts, pressing her mouth to his chest, parting her lips and swiping her tongue over slightly salty skin.

The jibe works as it always does, drawing on his energy reserves so that he can retaliate to her insinuation. He has her on her back in an instant, reaching over her for the lotion before rolling onto his back once more and pulling her to straddle him. She rocks over him, teasing him to readiness with her motions, as he coats his hands in the thick liquid. 

Once she's satisfied with her efforts she lifts up and slides down on him at the exact moment his hands come to rest on her ass, squeezing and spreading coolness over her skin as she rides him. She groans at his ministrations, leans forward to place her hands high on his chest and ensure that each of her thrusts gives her the opportunity to grind her clit against him. The combination of sensations means her second orgasm isn't slow to approach and he chooses the moment she breaks to roll her over, hitch her legs up over his shoulders and bring himself to another release within her, sending a third, smaller, burst of pleasure shockwaving through her when he reaches completion.

She sighs happily as he lowers his weight upon her, letting her legs fall to circle his hips lazily. "Worth it." She mutters.

Nathaniel captures her lips for the first time that day, tongues tangling together as they both come down from their high. "What is?" He questions when they break apart.

"Holding out on you." She grins.

He dips his head to nip at the curve of her breast. "Don't get any ideas, lieutenant."

She laughs, holding him close. "Wouldn't dream of it sir."

#

Later that evening, post a shower notably absent Nathaniel given that he was called away to a meeting in the newly constructed command building (a small blessing, really, because he still can't abide cool showers the way she can) Alicia stands in front of the mirror in her quarters and can't hold back a laugh. 

Despite the time spent out in the clearing without her bikini on, her backside and breasts are still a strikingly different colour to the rest of her. It's an expected side effect of her sun worshipping, but still a comical one. As she adjusts her grip on the pistol in her right hand, she hopes Nathaniel will be too distracted to care.

She hears her front door open, waits for him to call to her and listens to make sure he's alone before she leaves her bedroom.

Nathaniel's removing his boots when she emerges but instantly stills, half bent over, when he sees her. He raises himself up and she delights in the way his eyes roam her body, the heat in his gaze as he notices the gun, the smirk he wears when he realises she didn't back out of their silly little deal.

"Want me to pose, sir?" She offers, cheeky smile firmly in place.

"Don't think that'll be necessary, lieutenant." He says, holding out a hand for her. 

Alicia crosses the room to join him, takes his hand and is only just prepared enough when he tugs, collapsing into his chest in a somewhat controlled manner. She laughs, placing the gun down and winding her arms around him but doesn't miss the way he winces immediately at her touch. Stepping back, she looks up at him in concern. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He says, but it's pained.

She narrows her eyes at him and walks around him, lifting his shirt up and gasping. The skin of his back is an angry bright red, burnt by the strong sun from earlier. She eases his top over his head and observes it quietly, checking him over with a medic's interest rather than a lover's care.

"Why didn't you put sunscreen on? I would have helped!"

He groans as her fingertips brush his tender skin. "Was a little distracted, Wash." He reminds her.

She rolls her eyes, even though he can't see. "It could have waited. Come on." She urges, takes his hand and leads him through to the bedroom. She pushes on his chest, an area he apparently managed to protect. He doesn't wince as he falls, leading her to realise he also took the time to cover his legs and ass. Meaning he really had planned his attack on her. She just wishes he'd had the foresight to see this inevitability.

She leaves him where he rests, walks over to the dresser to fetch a bottle of the aloe gel she keeps for days when the sun catches her unawares. Crossing back to the bed a tilt of her head indicates she wants him flat on his stomach. He doesn't even hesitate to comply, letting her know quite how badly he must be hurting.

She settles over him as he had earlier with her, sitting just below his ass. Uncapping the bottle she lets a pool of it settle in the middle of his back, trying not to laugh as he hisses out a breath at the cold against his skin.

" _Jesus_. A little warning would have been nice." He mutters, but it fast turns into a groan of pleasure when her hands smooth the coolness over his back. 

It's her turn to wince as her hands move, feeling the unfamiliar texture of his back, the tightness of his skin. He must be so uncomfortable, and she's more than a little irritated that she played a part in his pain. As her hands brush over his sides he shifts more easily under her; the numbing action of the gel must be working. It's another one of the products from twenty second century medics, will sooth and erase the damage in little more than a few hours – by the time he wakes up he'll be free of the burn. But until then...

When she finishes and he appears suitably relaxed, she moves off of him and he moans a little. In disappointment, she pegs, and she looks at him in confusion. "What?"

"You expect me to be completely unaffected by that?"

She laughs, can't help it, the situation is so ridiculous. "Your back is burnt to a crisp. Yet somehow that turned you on?"

"It's you, Wash. You're naked. Of course."

She watches him carefully for a moment. Can't deny the fact that touching him, as ever, set her pulse a little quicker, her core a little warmer. But since he can clearly barely move at this moment in time, doesn't have a hope in hell of lying on his back, she figured that she'd have to go unsatisfied.

"How the hell are we doing to do this?" She asks.

With great effort and, granted, a little slowness and grunting, Nathaniel manages to seat himself in the middle of the bed, back facing the output of her aircon. He smiles triumphantly at her. "We'll find a way, Wash. Always do."

It's true. They've managed when she's had a broken arm, him a fractured foot, her a dislocated shoulder, him a Slasher wound to the side. This is nothing worse than those times. With a smile she drops the aloe on the dresser, crosses to him and eases his pants down and off. Then she straddles his thighs, takes him in her hand and pumps slowly, watching his eyes close.

"You sure?"

He smiles, eyes remaining closed as her hand works over him. "Can't even feel my back right now, Wash. Never been more sure."

With his affirmation she scoots forward, lifts and slides down over him for the second time that day. She presses her mouth to his, lets her hands encircle his upper arms as his own come to rest on her thighs. And like that they slowly rock together, lazy, calm, reaching their peak and tumbling over it together in a tangle of limbs, a combination of sighs and moans.

Alicia allows herself to fall backwards towards the pillows and pulls him with her, pillowing his head on her chest. His back remains open to the cool night air and he presses a grateful kiss to her skin.

"Next time, use protection." She mumbles and his surprised laughter is the last thing she hears before sleep claims her.


End file.
